


Fundamental Counting

by mrs_squirrel_chester



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Dean Winchester / Female Reader - Freeform, Dean Winchester Angst, Dean Winchester Fluff, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Female Reader, Female Reader angst, Female Reader fluff, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-03
Updated: 2015-11-03
Packaged: 2018-04-29 16:25:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5134589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrs_squirrel_chester/pseuds/mrs_squirrel_chester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reader Request - After a hunt, you’re riding back to the bunker with Sam and Dean. While arguing with Dean, there’s a car accident, and at the hospital, you slip into a coma.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fundamental Counting

**Author's Note:**

> Dean’s POV. Everything that is italicized is the dialogue. The Fundamental Counting Principle is a way to figure out the total number of ways different events can occur.

Two hours. That’s how long Y/N had been trapped inside the wrecked Impala. She screamed for the first hour, but after that, there was nothing. No cries for help, no screams of pain, and no begging Dean to just pull her out _no matter how bad it hurt_. Nothing. Not even when the ambulance and fire department came, or when the jaws of life were used to extract her. She was beaten and bloody, one leg bent at an angle that turned the hunter’s stomach, and it was all his fault.

He had been the one to pick a fight over something stupid. He looked away from the road for only a moment. But, as his luck would have it, it was at that exact moment that an oncoming car would drift into their lane. He jerked the wheel after she screamed, after Sam shouted _look out_ , but it was too late. The Impala slid on the gravel and rolled a couple of times before finally coming to a stop. The oncoming car, undamaged, sped off around the curve.

The brothers, having declined any medical attention, rode in the ambulance as the EMT’s worked at stabilizing Y/N’s breathing, _a collapsed lung_ one of them had said. They shouted vitals at each other over the screaming siren. None of it made a lick of sense to Dean, but Sam’s face went pale when someone mentioned _extensive internal bleeding_.

At the hospital, they were told they couldn’t go any further and that someone would be out _as soon as they knew more._

Sam tried to talk to his brother, but his words fell on deaf ears. All Dean could think about was Y/N and how he couldn’t lose her. He had already lost so much, so many people; he couldn’t lose her, too.

When a doctor approached three hours later, Dean felt like he might throw up. His words did little to ease the hunter’s mind.

_We were able to stop the bleeding and repair her lung. Her right leg has been set and should heal in 8 – 10 weeks. Due to the severity and location of the break she’ll probably need physical therapy to regain full use._

_When can I see her?_

_Son, there’s something else. The amount of blood she lost as well as swelling to the brain –_

_No._

_I’m sorry, but she has slipped into a coma. She’s a fighter -_

The floor shifted beneath Dean’s feet and if Sam hadn’t been standing right there, he would have fallen. Sam shouldered the weight of his brother and thanked the doctor, shaking his hand after getting a room number.

Hazel eyes bore into Dean’s. _Dean, she’s gonna be fine, ok? Let’s go see her._

Overtaken by wires and a breathing tube, she looked so small. Her broken leg was wrapped in blue plaster and elevated by a hoist, while her head was almost completely covered by gauze. Cuts and bruises littered the rest of her exposed skin and it physically pained Dean to look at her. He had done this to her, and despite the fact that his brother was spouting words of optimism, Dean couldn’t help but think darker things.

Four days passed agonizingly slow. Y/N was never left alone thanks to the proclamation that Dean was her husband and Sam was her brother-in-law. Family overrode _stupid hospital rules_.

Her hand looked so small in his. An IV, surrounded by a bruise, was held in place by several pieces of tape. He ran a finger over the back of her hand, memorizing the rise and fall of her knuckles.

 _She’s gonna wake up._ Sam sat on a couch at the other end of the room.

_It’s been four days, Sam._

_Yeah, but you heard what the doc said. Her vitals are improving every hour and –_ Y/N’s eyes flew open and she began to choke on the breathing tube.

Several high pitched alarms sounded off and in burst two nurses and the doctor that performed the surgery. Sam and Dean were ushered out of the room but not before one nurse called out _her blood pressure is dropping._

Five minutes later Dean was allowed in the room. Y/N was sitting up and the face that had been the color of chalk for four days was flush. She smiled weakly at him and attempted to sit up higher, but quickly found the stitches restricted her movement.

He dropped a kiss to her recently free of gauze hair, sighing as she leaned into him. Her shaking hand found his as he sat on the edge of the bed. _I’m sorry, Y/N._

 _What for?_ She reached up and ran a hand over his bruised cheekbone.

Amber and emerald eyes fluttered closed as he shook his head, clenching his jaw almost painfully. _You’re here because of me. Because –_

_Hey, I started the fight, remember?_

_Yeah, but –_

_But nothing, Dean. I mean it. We’re both stubborn as a mule. I’m not surprised it took a car crash to get us to shut up._

Hanging his head, he turned into her hand and pressed a kiss into her palm. _Six times._

_What?_

_You flat lined six times during surgery and… God I’m such an ass. It took you almost dying to make me realize how much I…_ Her lips were warm against his.

_I love you, too._


End file.
